Lucia Bruni & Lucirmás: Light, Glass and Upcycling

Čaše SOFT, apciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Drinking glasses SOFT, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Lucia Bruni & Lucirmás: Light, Glass and Upcycling

Drinking glasses SOFT, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Founded in Barcelona in 2006, Lucirmás is one of the first European brands dedicated to creating sustainable, eco-friendly glass products. Through careful study of the shapes of post-consumer glass, usually discarded wine bottles, and by applying a variety of glassmaking techniques, mostly cold ones (cutting, sandblasting, etc.), Lucirmás produces elegant and functional glasses, lamps, coat racks, trays, and many other objects. Always starting from a used bottle as the raw material, which is a highly restrictive base for shaping and assembling new forms, the design of such products requires a great deal of imagination and creativity.

Šolje za kafu, apciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Coffee cups, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Specialist in branding of glass upcycling

While many artisans today upcycle post-consumer glass (bottles, jars, windows, etc.) and manage to offer simple products, Lucirmás draws on 25 years of experience when creating not only original products but also new brands dedicated to upcycling. A notable example is Roca Recicla, a brand born from the close collaboration between Lucirmás and the world-renowned winery and restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona. This project reflects the winery’s pioneering efforts to operate with zero waste. It led to the opening of a glass workshop within the restaurant, where all the glass used in serving food and drinks is upcycled into souvenirs for guests or practical objects, again used in the restaurant.

The founder of Lucirmás is Lucia Bruni from Italy. After completing her undergraduate studies in fine arts in her home country, she came to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona. In 2006, for her master’s project on glass recycling – Beyond a Glass Bottle – she won the prestigious prize (AdiFad Medal) from Spain’s Association of Industrial Design of the Federation of Associations for the Promotion of Arts and Design.

This recognition convinced her to stay in Spain, where she continued to develop her recycling concept, highly innovative at the time. Another strong reason was nature itself – the Mediterranean Sea which merges with the sky into an incredible blue color, as Lucia describes it. The entire setting proved ideal for both her career and personal life, where she also nurtures the values of sustainability.

Vaza od apcikliranog stakla, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Upcycled glass vase, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás
case za viski, apciklirano staklo; dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Whisky glasses, upcycled glass; design and production: Tom Allen & Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Stories of used bottles get unexpected sequels

Both of her parents are biologists, and she was raised with a deep respect for nature. Her professional and artistic interest in glass recycling was therefore expected, even though it did not emerge immediately. During her master’s studies, Lucia focused mainly on sculpture and scenography, but she was not proud of her works. It was only when she realized that she wanted to create functional objects, and turned to recycling glass waste, that she felt pride in her work and took flight in this direction.

I enjoy creating beautiful objects that make life more pleasant, but not only that: I love the fact that all the objects I create, besides being beautiful, are also functional and give bottles a new life. Their stories continue in the form of handcrafted design pieces, exclusive to those who purchase them.

– Lucia Bruni, 2019.

Probably the deepest of those stories is embodied in the Dama lamp. Lucia designed it together with Tom Allen from Australia, who later founded Impact Boom. Inspired by the beauty of a demijohn, they dedicated this lamp to traditional homes and kitchens, where our mothers and grandmothers once often used these large glass containers to store oil, water, vinegar, or wine. The lamp’s beechwood base is also sustainably sourced and handcrafted by local artisans.

Magic inside glass

From her master’s project, created in a workshop rented by the hour, to today’s Lucirmás brand, Lucia has grown considerably as an artist, designer, and craftswoman. At Elisava, the oldest design school in Barcelona (Fundació Centre del Vidre Barcelona), she studied product design, while at the Glass Centre Foundation of Barcelona she learned to manipulate glass. Founded in 1990 and housed in a former silk ribbon factory, this center fostered strong connections between glass artisans, factories, and artists until 2020. As a vital part of the local glassmaking tradition, it helped Lucia develop both her approach to glass and her professional environment.

Set čaša, apciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Set of drinking glasses, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Her current workshop is in Montgat, a suburb of Barcelona, where she handcrafts all her designs. Largely because of her Italian fine arts education, crucial for defining the aesthetics and the narrative of her collections, she has succeeded in her goal – to bring excellence into sustainable glass design.

Each time in the workshop I am surprised when I cut a bottle and discover that the forms inside the glass are not rigid and perfect, but sinuous, irregular, and warm. Although a bottle might seem like a simple object, the glass it is made from holds a special magic. That magic can only be seen by those who know the material well and want to go beyond the obvious.

– Lucia Bruni, 2019.

LaFlor, viseća lampa, apciklirano staklo i bakar, dizajn i izrada: Nutcreatives & Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
LaFlor pendant lamp, upcycled glass and copper, design and production: Nutcreatives & Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás

Sustainability as a concept of life and career

Lucia is open to direct collaboration with clients as well as with designers who wish to explore upcycling. She invests a great deal of effort in developing her glassmaking skills, convinced that the artist’s own craftsmanship guarantees the highest quality of the work. With her original design approach and ever-refined practical skills, she responds successfully to diverse client needs while also creating bespoke products. For example, Barcelona’s gastro taverna Teòric chose her LaFlor lamp for their space. They wanted something that was like the food they prepare and serve, all-natural and locally sourced. With the help of the Nutcreatives design studio, Lucirmás gave them exactly that.

The availability of Lucirmás products depends largely on the bottles Lucia sources. Each bottle has to be found in a particular place as it is chosen to suit the product’s concept. If certain bottles run out, that product is no longer offered and a new one takes its place. The same applies to products with parts made of other materials, such as the LaFlor lamp with its copper disc or the Dama lamp with its beechwood base, as Lucia depends on local artisans for these elements. Behind the Lucirmás brand lies a workshop where Lucia constantly experiments and adapts to real-life conditions. While new creations shine, others are put aside, waiting for better days, the right bottles, or the necessary artisans.

The logistics and sourcing of bottles is not easy. We don't go to a warehouse to buy kilos of glass. We source each bottle from different locations and we want to offer a high-quality artisan product that is mass produced in order to keep the price as accessible as possible. For this reason, we have a large space in the workshop where we store a large range of bottles..

— Lucia Bruni, for Impact Boom, 2017

Set čaša, apciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Drinking glasses LIME and blue, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás
Set čaša, apciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: Lucirmás || fotografija: ljubaznošću Lucirmás
Set of blue drinking glasses, upcycled glass, design and production: Lucirmás II photo: courtesy of Lucirmás
The entire production process is conceptualized. Even the water used by the cutting and engraving machines is recycled, and the product packaging is designed so that transport requires minimal space. Solutions like this arise from Lucia’s sustainable lifestyle.

She is completely dedicated to thinking about how her lifestyle can reduce the need for natural resource exploitation, which in turn leads to waste accumulation. Lucirmás is her largest project so far, and she is immensely proud that for 25 years its products, many of which remain in public spaces (pubs, restaurants, etc.), have been delivering a crucial message about the need to protect our natural surroundings.

References